Part of a motorcycle mounted special forces group, Tom Marshall roams his section of the deep, winter desert of Iraq alone, intercepting Islamic State patrols that occupy the region. Other riders are out there dead, alive and insane. When an early extraction date for the riders is given, Tom begins to withdraw, but into a world of brutal survival where suicide grows stronger with every step. His destiny will be shaped by the unforgiving winter conditions and the horror of religion at its most macabre. How far can too far go?

It's uncanny! Within six months of breaking up with her, Peg Silver's ex-lovers always meet and marry the women of their dreams. Even worse than being the eternal bridesmaid, she's the last girlfriend, the one who awakens in a guy theknowledge of what he's always wanted in a relationship ... and it's never with Peg. Obviously, a major lifestyle change is seriously called for, which is why the distraught interior landscape designer says good-bye to Manhattan and late-night lattes with pal Nina, and hello to a farmhouse on ten acres in tiny, backwater Manshire, Vermont, hoping to meet the ultimate, all-organic country man (without too much facial hair) to keep her warm in those frosty New England winters.

Instead, Peg finds herself at Inward Bound -- a proactive adult-education retreat for the hapless and hopelessly lovelorn -- to try to lift her dreaded "girlfriend curse." A steamy (and expressly forbidden) dalliance with gorgeous woman-eater Ray probably isn't going to help cure her. But some romantic insight could arise from her attraction to Linus, Inward Bound's sexy, scruffy, smart and still-single founder. Perhaps there is a secret to be unearthed in the crunchy Green Mountains, one that will magically transform Peg Silver from the Perpetual Also Ran to the Big Winner in love.

"Beautifully complex and deftly drawn...In Every Mirror She's Black is a sexy, surprising, searing debut about love, loss, desire, and the many dimensions of Black womanhood."—Deesha Philyaw, 2020 National Book Award Finalist & award-winning author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies An arresting debut for anyone looking for insight into what it means to be a Black woman in the world. Three Black women are linked in unexpected ways to the same influential white man in Stockholm as they build their new lives in the most open society run by the most private people. Successful marketing executive Kemi Adeyemi is lured from the U.S. to Sweden by Jonny von Lundin, CEO of the nation's largest marketing firm, to help fix a PR fiasco involving a racially tone-deaf campaign. A killer at work but a failure in love, Kemi's move is a last-ditch effort to reclaim her social life. A chance meeting with Jonny in business class en route to the U.S. propels former model-turned-flight-attendant Brittany-Rae Johnson into a life of wealth, luxury, and privilege—a life she's not sure she wants—as the object of his unhealthy obsession. And Somali refugee Muna Saheed, who lost her entire family, finds a job cleaning the toilets at Jonny's office as she works to establish her residency in Sweden and, more importantly, seeks connection and a place she can call home. Told through the perspectives of each of the three women, In Every Mirror She's Black is a fast-paced, richly nuanced yet accessible contemporary novel that touches on important social issues of racism, classism, fetishization, and tokenism, and what it means to be a Black woman navigating a white-dominated society. Lola Akinmade Åkerström is an African-American (Nigerian-American) award-winning author, speaker, and photographer based in Sweden. This is her first novel. Praise for In Every Mirror She's Black: "In Every Mirror She's Black is a wise and complicated exploration of the lives of three Black women in America and Sweden. Lola Akinmade Åkerström offers a sharply written story with messy, deeply moving characters, raising brutal questions and steering clear of easy answers. A book that will stick with you long after you've turned the last page."—Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six "In Every Mirror She's Black highlights the struggles of three women fighting to assimilate into a society that ignores their worth. These characters will pull at your heartstrings. Lola writes with a contemporary flair, highlighting the layered subtleties of the Black woman's plight. In Every Mirror She's Black will stay with readers for a long time."—Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of bestselling novels Here Comes the Sun and Patsy "In Every Mirror She's Black is an absolute must-read. From its relatable and three-dimensional characters, to its delving into racism and tokenism, to its unique and sometimes heartbreaking examination of the lives of Black women in a Nordic setting, this novel delivers an emotional punch. Kemi, Brittany, and Muna's lives come alive on the page. If you're looking for a novel that will stay with you even days after you've read the last page, then make sure you grab a copy of Lola Akinmade Åkerström's In Every Mirror She's Black. This is a very different and unpredictable portrayal of Black women's search for love and self, and it's pure magic."—Kim Golden, USA Today bestselling author

Maya and Daughter live in complete isolation in a secluded woodland, their days aligned with the light and changing seasons, a complex pattern of routine and ritual. Daughter has never questioned the life her mother has chosen for them; the life that has meant she's never met another soul, or known anywhere except their forest home.

But one day, when Daughter is almost sixteen, a red-haired stranger steps into the confines of their territory. Where there was always two, suddenly there are three - and the carefully constructed world that Maya has built to keep her daughter safe may not survive it.

Urgent, haunting and thrillingly alive, Life Cycle of a Moth explores both the tenderness and ferocity of maternal love, asking what we might find ourselves capable of - and willing to sacrifice - in order to shelter those we hold dear.

Eviscerated Panda volume four follows the band and their significant others through the end of their second year making music together. They play at the Edge Bar and Suzy has a tantrum of epic proportions. Phil and Suzy make up, Jez has dinner with a mystery woman and Nick and Jenni celebrate their engagement. The Pandas play in Camden with Horror Frog and Dick Trouble and the Viagras. Victor turns up in Reading, Paul has a chance meeting with an old band mate and Eviscerated Panda play in the home of metal with Nightshade Milkshake. Paul takes on a side project, much to Phil's disgust, and Victor enrols at the University of Reading. Ian meets his Mum, the Pandas play a Halloween gig and Victor completes the line-up of his new Reading based band called Deep Red Mistress. A ring is given to Cleo and the Pandas play with Dick Trouble and the Viagras in Witney. Jenni receives birthday flowers from two men. Paul plays gigs with a band other than Eviscerated Panda and Deep Red Mistress play their debut gig. Two of the Pandas attend the golf club dinner dance and the Pandas play in Coventry with Over-revved Engine. Christmas is celebrated and Phil wonders what the future holds. He's still searching for that elusive musical success...

An innocent game of internet poker leads James, an English writer and poet, to Mia; the successful President of her own American companies. As their transatlantic friendship develops, they embark upon a journey of a lifetime which takes them back to younger dreams they had long since abandoned. Against a backdrop of stunning locations incorporating Florida, Cornwall, Scotland and Lancashire, their story unfolds. As the sparks of passion ignite, love begins to blossom in deeper ways than either of them had ever encountered. Their journey begins to deepen and unfold, as passion, desire and their innermost feelings create a world that neither of them can resist or control. The thousands of miles between them cannot stem their desires and against overwhelming odds and life-threatening moments, they fight for the world they know is there. They both examine their hearts, minds and souls, in a bid to live their dreams.

SLAVE. ESCAPE-ARTIST. MURDERER. TERRORIST. SPY. LOVER. MOTHER. TRICKSTER.

At the Golden Sunset retirement home, it is not unusual for residents to invent stories. So when elderly Ms Mook first begins to unspool her memories, the obituarist listening to her is sceptical.

Stories of captivity, friendship, murder, adventure, assumed identities and spying. Stories that take place in WWII Indonesia; in Busan during the Korean war; in cold-war Pyongyang; in China. The stories are so colourful and various, at times so unbelievable, that they cannot surely all belong to the same woman. Can they?

As playful and thought-provoking as it is compelling, as brutal and harrowing as it is achingly poignant and tender, this is a novel about love and war, deceit and betrayal, about identity, storytelling and the trickery required for survival.

The chance discovery of artefacts and parchment in a disused cellar beneath a medieval swan pit propels the Morgan family into the epicentre of an unfolding drama. Paul Morgan falls out with his father, an Anglican priest, over his religious upbringing. He travels to New Zealand to find out why Uncle Oliver emigrated there and is ostracised by his family. Paul's close friend Hussain, a devout Muslim, is coincidently attending an Islamic "conference" on the Island. Paul meets Laura and falls in love. Forensic test results have been intercepted by the security services, causing consternation in the Christian Church and in the higher echelons of Government. Can the revelations be kept out of the public domain? Prime Minister Dick Benson fears a constitutional crisis. Who will prevail - the Church, the state, or the monarchy? Paul's aunt, the archivist involved in examining parchment found in the swan pit discovery, goes missing. Paul becomes uneasy about Hussain's motives and his interpretation of Islam. Why has his aunt disappeared? What is the family secret? Laura has become tense and distant - why?

THE MODERN CLASSIC: OVER 20 MILLION COPIES SOLD A Sunday Times bestseller and a Richard & Judy book club pick 'The real deal: one gorgeous read' Stephen King 'This book will change your life. An instant classic' Daily Telegraph 'A book lover's dream' The Times Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the 'Cemetery of Lost Books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles that have long gone out of print. To this library, a man brings his 10-year-old son Daniel one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book from the shelves and pulls out 'The Shadow of the Wind' by Julian Carax. But as he grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. Then, one night, as he is wandering the old streets once more, Daniel is approached by a figure who reminds him of a character from the book, a character who turns out to be the devil. This man is tracking down every last copy of Carax's work in order to burn them. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth behind the life and death of Julian Carax and to save those he left behind... 'Marvellous' Sunday Times 'A hymn of praise to all the joys of reading' Independent 'Gripping and instantly atmospheric' Mail on Sunday 'Irresistibly readable' Guardian 'Diabolically good' Elle

Mariza, 'n bekende historiese romanskrywer, het haar woorde verloor nadat 'n brand haar huis byna in puin gelê het. Daarna sterf haar man en nou, 'n jaar later, haar Jack Russell wat 16 jaar haar metgesel was.

Sy ontmoet Joubert Hofmeyr, en hulle vertrek op 'n reis na die Kgalagadi: Sy om haar woorde terug te kry en hy om meer vir sy navorsing oor sy voorgeslag se skades en skandes by haar uit te vind. Mariza en Joubert verskil soms, is 'n klankbord vir mekaar en ryg mekaar se stories aanmekaar, maar besef dat die verlede soms jou toekoms bepaal. Die goue draad deur die storie van vyf geslagte vroue is dat hul probleme universeel is. Dat die kollektiewe geheue van die vroue mekaar van geslag tot geslag beïnvloed.

Die reis is alles is nie so eenvoudig nie. Dit is die medereisigers wat alles die moeite werd maak. Selfs die voorgeslagte oor eeue heen.

THE de LAFITTE PROTOCOL is the first book of the saga trilogy. It is also the code used to conceal the planned brutal assassination of the ancient eponymous family. It is also the mystery thriller of the trilogy. Within the opening chapter you the reader experience, during the languid setting of a lawn meet at Chateau Lafitte, the dogged persistence of an ex-Mafia assassin as he lies in wait in their huge hunting forest. On a bitterly cold Saturday, the 28th of November 1999 he huddles on the top branch of the tallest tree in the forest for the exciting duration of the stag hunt. He finally gets Jacques, Le Comte de Lafitte in his Zeiss telescopic sights, and watches him kill the stag in the icy pond, half a mile away. The de Lafitte family, devout Christians who survived the French revolution and both World Wars, only suspect that they are still being undermined by the re-emergence of an old atheistic code of conduct. Which means that there is no code, other than what one can get away with! The author however does not want to lose faith with his reader and hints and subsequently reveals who is behind the terror, whilst still retaining most of the mystery for the participants of the action. Such as that of Sir Henry Steere, a former 'friend' of the family, now a dismissed ex-MI6 operator, who inherits the small New York Private Bank from his father, who had been given it, by his own devout Quaker family. They in turn had been granted it by a grateful de Lafitte family, in gratitude for trusted work over the centuries, after the de Lafitte family reorganized their world wide holdings, after the 2nd World War. Charles Russell-Lafitte, the young Oxford nephew of Uncle Jacques who also normally acted as his field master, is the first to have had a pre-monition of the assassination. But it is here in Oxford that the grotesque variant of Charles' earlier vision of his premonition of the assassination on Comte de Lafitte's life is paradoxically enacted on Charles himself. Would the most skilful surgeons in Oxford be able to save Dr.Charles, or would he be bedridden as a paraplegic for the rest of his life. As the significance of the de Lafitte family quickly becomes known to the security services, the Oxford Bulldog's call in MI5 who duly rope in MI6, who call in the CIA and Interpol. But it remains a mystery, until the further assassinations take place, again on the 28th November 2011 at a subsequent lawn meet at Chateau de Lafitte and at Eton College Chapel and the Wall game. The 'de Lafitte Protocol' assassinations continue apace without end interspersed around the busy lives of the de Lafitte family, amid the subsequent discovered drama of the survival of Charles' twin. The love stories hidden throughout will come to fruition after the end of the thrilling Kentucky fox hunt, which starts at the end of this thriller.

As Tom Jeffson inserts the key into the lock of an empty house on Easter Saturday in 1922, he is completely unaware that his youngest daughter, eight year-old Daisy, is hiding there following a childish prank. Although Daisy is the innocent witness to her father's adulterous liaison that day, it is her older sister, Rose, who forever carries the burden of his deception. Sunlight on Broken Glass is a story of two sisters, united as they endure the consequences of their father's increasingly appalling behaviour. But, as the story reaches its climax and Tom is diagnosed with a chilling psychopathic disorder, can their love for each other withstand the strain? Based on a true story, Sunlight on Broken Glass is the first novel in the Jeffson Family Trilogy, an epic saga of love, loss, hopes, dreams and family loyalty.

When a new recruit to MI6 accidentally comes across an old photograph, she has no idea that it is about to change her world. Unknown to her, the photograph is evidence of a connection between a planned uprising in Eastern Europe and the secret society known as the Maddalena. Someone has decided she must be silenced before she can pass on the information she has uncovered and she is forced to run for her life, finding help in the most unexpected of places. Whilst she is pursued by the Mafia, an ambitious KGB Major in Belarus makes an alarming discovery. His subsequent investigation leads to the highest levels of government and the secret service as he begins to realise there is a plot by pro-Russian separatists to start a revolution. This exciting, fast-paced thriller takes the reader on a chase through Italy and Eastern Europe in a race against time. Secrets start to unfold and nobody knows who they can trust. No one is safe as the Maddalena tries to keep its existence and its operations hidden whatever the cost.

A roller coaster of emotions carries this story forward with its many facets of love. Romantic, obsessive and unrequited passions are just a few of the aspects explored through the characters using the park over one day.Can wrongs ever be redeemed? Dave the central character returning from the horrors of Afghanistan desperately believes that they can, otherwise his life means nothing. Can two star-crossed lovers survive today? In the twenty-first century world of bigotry and prejudice Romeo and Juliet's challenge is to prove their love can overcome all obstacles in their way. Can a child's dream become reality? Melanie is certain that despite her unique isolated view of family and people she can still follow her calling. Like the roots of the Sycamore where they separately meet, their lives unfold through connected links and strands. Stories of hope, despair and ambition unfold as the clock moves on relentlessly from sunrise to sunset.